Battling the proposed border surge

FILE - In this April 19, 2011, file photo, a member of the National Guard checks on his colleague inside a Border Patrol Skybox near the Hidalgo International Bridge in Hidalgo, Texas. National Guard members along the Texas-Mexico border assist Border Patrol by surveying the terrain from the tower. All major Republican presidential candidates have promised to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. Many support a fence stretching nearly 2,000 miles to do so. But a border that is sealed to all illegal immigrants and drugs is a promise none of them could keep. (AP Photo/Delcia Lopez, File)
— AP

FILE - In this April 19, 2011, file photo, a member of the National Guard checks on his colleague inside a Border Patrol Skybox near the Hidalgo International Bridge in Hidalgo, Texas. National Guard members along the Texas-Mexico border assist Border Patrol by surveying the terrain from the tower. All major Republican presidential candidates have promised to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. Many support a fence stretching nearly 2,000 miles to do so. But a border that is sealed to all illegal immigrants and drugs is a promise none of them could keep. (AP Photo/Delcia Lopez, File)
/ AP

Immigrant activists will stage “Border Overkill” protests Wednesday in San Diego and across the country against what they consider the militarization of the border proposed in comprehensive immigration reform legislation.

The National Day of Action has been planned by the Border Network for Human Rights, Presente.org, Detention Watch Network and the Southern Borders Communities Coalition to register dissent against the “border surge," a last-minute amendment to the Senate bill which was approved two weeks ago. The Corker-Hoeven amendment included billions of dollars in new technology and equipment, 20,000 more border security enforcers and hundreds of miles of additional fencing.

Gatherings are also planned in El Paso, Washington D.C., San Francisco and Tucson. Those who oppose the amendment are concerned the surge will lead to increased racial profiling, abuse and death in border communities.

“As the debate over immigration reform becomes stagnant in Congress, it’s important to acknowledge that excessive and unaccountable enforcement of border communities is not only unnecessary, but it also undermines the quality of life for border families,” said Christian Ramirez, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, part of the human-rights group Alliance San Diego.

Texas Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Rio Grande Valley and chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said Tuesday he is also opposed to the inclusion of a border build-up in any immigration reform bill. His comments came in response to a petition from Presente.org with more than 10,000 signatures protesting the amendment.

“It is undeniable that people have concerns about our border; however those of us from the border region know that we most need security investment at the ports of entry, not between them,” he said in a statement. “The movement of people legally through our ports of entry, and the ability to stop guns and narcotics at the border is critically important to the safety and economic growth of the region. Unfortunately Corker-Hoeven ignores the progress already made at our border and is misguided in its allocation of resources for the region.”

In San Diego the protest is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. at the office of GOP Rep. Darrel Issa in Vista. It is being organized by the San Diego Human Rights Network, American Friends Service Committee, Alliance San Diego, Oceanside Human Rights Network, Comite de Derechos Humanos de Escondido, San Diego Immigrant youth Collective and the Fallbrook Human Rights Committee.